Thermite 2011

No, I'm not returning to write a post. Just here to show off a superb thermite reaction I did. This was unedited so jump to 3:00 for the actual fun stuff. The wind was really strong so very little of what I said could be heard. That's OK. I was trying to be teachery and stuff.

Enjoy:

Awesome day

Today was an awesome day in my brewing life.

I did what few brewers have ever done.

I brewed 6 beers in one day!!!!!!!!

While the rest of you were fighting mobs of people to get a Xbox for $10 off, I was brewing beer.

I started this morning in the vicinity of 10AM and finished around 10PM. I brewed the following:

Carbon Black Oatmeal Stout

Rye Pale Ale

Maifest Bock clone

Belgian Duppel

Metathesis Pale Ale (double batch)

All of these were partial mash recipes, so it took ever longer. I ended up with two 5-gallon pails full of spent grains. They are now sitting in my composting bin waiting until spring.

It was tricky at times figuring out what hops went where, but I did it. I had two batches going at all times. While my wife and kids decorated the house for Christmas, I brewed. I was very busy.

I will not have to brew for a few months.

back in the saddle again

I was recently offered an interim "promotion" to an administrative position at my college. I don't want to tell you what it is, but it rhymes with "Gene of the Smackulty." I quickly accepted the position only to find out later that apparently, I can't fire anyone I want.

I've been learning and doing a lot! This has left little time to brew. Thankfully, I've finally gotten things into a nice groove and have planned a few brews.

I just ordered the ingredients for 6 batches of beer. In no particular order:

Maifest bock

Metathesis Pale Ale x2

Carbon Black stout

Double bock

Rye Pale Ale

By Christmas, I should have a stout, porter, pale ale, and a rye pale ale ready to go. That should make me happy. Besides, that's what its all about.

R.I.P.

I finally dumped it.

It took me a while to build up the courage to dump 5 gallons of beer down the drain, but I did it.

This was my first total loss.

Patents vs copyright

When a drug is patented, the patent last 20 years. It often takes 8-10 years of testing before a drug can be sold to the public. That means the drug company has only 10-12 years to recoup the costs. After which, anyone can make the drug and sell it.

Try that in any other creative endeavor and it gets labeled "outright theft of intellectual property."

Recently some Thai animators, created a nearly identical replica of Beauty and the Beast. Oh the horrors!!! Disney's patent on Beauty and the Beast would have run out long ago.[1] This knockoff would be totally legal if it were a drug. If so, you could buy it at Walmart for $4.

[1] yes, it was released in 1991, but I'm sure the testing and development started years before.

10-10-10

10-10-10

Anyone know the importance of this?

Is anyone a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

Can anyone make the connection?

The first person to do so wins a prize.[1]

non-nerds need not napply.[2]

[1] I'll email you an emoticon.

[2] alliteration enhanced.

oops, I did it again.

I'm kind of like this:

I once had trouble with a bit of a beer geyser. Well, tonight I got fooled again. Shame on me..or.. don't get fooled a second time... whatever.

After killing three kegs within the matter of 2 days (thanks in large part to my family), I went about filling those three kegs.

I had removed the faucets for cleaning and...um... well...err...forgot to attach them... again... like that other time. I had a nice spray of pale ale flying out of my tap tower.

BUT!!!!!! Since God apparently likes me, 97% of the beer was sprayed into a garbage can. For 12 seconds I was pissed off!!!! But then, I realized all of the beer was in the garbage can. How sweet.

Still, it was a pretty stupid thing to do.

Things I hate

I hate speaker phones.

It's torture

Since the beginning of August (± several days), I have had three beers on tap. I have a pale ale, a dark lager and a saison. All fine beers.

About a month ago, I found out my brother was going to be in town during this coming weekend. Since he is an enjoyer of beer, I figured I would save some for him. Easier said than done.

I've spent the last several weeks doing my best to ration my beer. This has been challenging... no actually it's been torture. I enjoy drinking my beer, but I've abstained. I've limited myself to one (or two) beers every few days. I think I should have enough.

Thankfully, my local neighborhood liquor store is closing to make room for a CVS pharmacy. They've been selling everything dirt cheap. I've taken advantage to the tune of 2 cases of wine for $3 a bottle. Not bad.

Long story short, I should have enough beer to share with my brother, but it wasn't easy. I'll be sure to remind him of that.

.

stupid, stupid, stupid....

I have brewed over 115 batches of beer in my homebrewing career. I would like to think I know what I am doing. Recently, I brewed a partial mash rye ale. I was excited because I had never brewed a batch with rye in it.

I have a large kettle in which I can boil about 4.5 gallons of wort. After boiling the wort and chilling it, I dumped it into my carboy. My carboy has a mark on it to indicate 5 gallons. After dumping the wort in, the liquid level was about a half-gallon OVER the mark!!!!

I spent several minutes trying to figure out how I had made a gallon of liquid out of nothing. Maybe I had somehow acquired divine abilities. Sweet. What should I do first with my powers?

After thinking for a few minutes I realize what has happened. I didn't create matter. I forgot to dump the sanitizing solution out of the carboy.

Stupid.

To return or not to return

With the recent rash of delinquent bloggers returning to active blogging, (see here, here, here and maybe even here) I've asked myself if maybe I should return to blogging on a more regular basis.

hmmmmmmmm, what to do, what to do?!?!?

Nah, I'm just going to stay here and keep blogging at a local high school. .. Unless, three of my fellow blog buddies would like to fly out here and talk me into returning.

Or, you could just offer me $20 million.

Just popping in for a bat.. I mean bit.

I'm not really coming out of blogging retirement, but sometime things just need to be shared with the world[1]

Apparently, some dude in the Minneapolis area decided to go all NRA on a bat in his house. While it got the job done, it also got him in a bit of trouble. My favorite part was when he sent his wife upstairs to be safe. I'm pretty sure bats fly near the ceiling which happens to be the floor of the upstairs. Brilliant.

[1] assuming the 'world' is the 3 of you that read this.

Why I love living in Minnesota

Today was the day. The day Spring done went and sprung here in God's country.

This morning the trees lining the river valley were brown. By the afternoon, there was an obvious green color covering the valley.

The sudden appearance of green is what makes Minnesota great. We endure harsh winters for this very day and the many that follow.

Now, if I can keep the freakin' rabbits away, we should get to enjoy a few nice tulips in a couple weeks.

Random thought as I randomly post sporadically

In the USA, yesterday was census day. Stand and be counted. I must admit, I still need to send in my census stuff. The USA Today published some interesting data on census participation. How does your state stack up? Notice that the highest participation rate is for states in the Midwest! Horray Midwesterners!!!! We are so responsible.

But, I was wondering. Where do these percentages come from? Let's review some math.

A percentage is mathematically described as the part over the whole times 100. In this specific example it is the number of people that responded divided by the total number of people in the state times 100.

But wait, the purpose of the census is to count the total number of people in the state. How can the percent be calculated if the total number of people isn't even known?

One equation with two unknowns cannot be solved.

Stuff that I think is funny

...no, not girls kissing. Just watch the whole thing. It's funny.

The part at 2:16 is funniest.

Happy pi day

[(–1)^(1/2)] [2^3] π

....and it was good

Happy π day everyone!!

More free homebrewing advice.

Here's a novel idea for those of you interested in homebrewing. When you get grains at your LHBS* it is a good idea to label each bags. I know it sounds radical, but it helps identify which is the domestic 2-row and which is the Maris Otter. Or to identify the 20°L crystal from the 55°L crystal malt.

The last time I went to my LHBS, I got about 20 pounds of grains to be used in several batches. At my LHBS, it is a self service deal where one weighs out each grain, crushes it and puts it in a plastic bag. The last time I was there I got into a really cool conversation with another brewer while we were in the grain room. I kept weighing and crushing grains as we talked. However, I forgot to label most of my bags. I wrote everything on a list so the checkout guy knew what I was buying, but I distracted enough to neglect labeling the bags for my own use.

I just realized this a couple days ago and I got really pissed at myself. I THINK I identified what each thing is. I'm most confused about which 10 pound bag is Maris Otter and which is 2-row. In the end, it isn't that critical really, but I won't be making my Irish stout to the correct specs if I guess wrong.

*That's Local HomeBrew Store

potty humor (nerd alert)

–log(pee)

Ag sucks

Congratulations to our neighbors to the north. You can have your Au. Hell of a game though, eh? Ah geez. We had it and den we din't.

If the bulk of Canadians[1] weren't such nice folk, I'd be real pissed off. Instead, since I live in Minnesota[2] and since I appreciate good hockey, I'm willing to let this one slide, fellas.

But geez, we almost had it. Curse that Gretzky version 2.0 fella.[3]

All I can say is, Horray North America!!!!!! Yeah, take that, World!!!

[1] in my experience, mostly those to the west of the French speakers and those to the east of the French speakers.

[2] Considered by some to be the southern-most province of Canada.

[3] geez, it took like 2 minutes for someone (probably from Nova Scotia) to update his Wikipedia page to include his game winning goal. God bless the internets.